Central Texas College has once again been named to the list of the top military-friendly schools according to G.I. Jobs magazine. The list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools which are doing the most to embrace America’s veterans as students. The 2011 list was compiled through exhaustive research starting last April during which G.I. Jobs polled more than 7,000 schools nationwide. Criteria for making the Military-Friendly list included efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students, results in recruiting military and veteran students and academic accreditations.

Methodology, criteria and weighting for the list were developed with the assistance of an Academic Advisory Board (AAB) consisting of educators from Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, Colorado State University, Dallas County Community College, Old Dominion University, Cleveland State University, Lincoln Technical Institute and Embry Riddle; as well as Keith Wilson, VA’s director of education services; Michele Spires, American Council on Education’s assistant director of military programs; Janet Swandol, associate director for CLEP and Derek Blumke, president of Student Veterans of America.

As part of the honor, CTC is included in G.I. Jobs magazine’s Guide to Military Friendly Schools released this month. The online listing is http://MilitaryFriendlySchools.com.

Beginning its relationship with the military through Fort Hood contracts in the late 1960s, CTC has served active and retired military and family members for more than 40 years and offers associate degrees and certificates designed for the military student via face-to-face and distance learning options and provides maximum credit for military education and training. With more than 150 locations across the continental United States, Europe, the Pacific Far East to include mainland Japan, Okinawa and Korea, as well as deployed locations in Southwest Asia, CTC also offers classes on ships at sea and online to civilians and the military through the Army´s eArmyU program, MarineNet and the Navy´s PACE program.

In addition to on-site operations in deployed locations, CTC has developed various other educational delivery methods such as classes on CD-ROM, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and ipods for military personnel who are unable to attend classes and do not have regular Internet access.

In 2001, CTC was an original partner in the eArmyU program which offers unprecedented access, choice and flexibility in online learning capabilities. CTC was also one of the first colleges to pledge support to the Army’s centralized tuition management and tuition assistance program GoArmyEd in 2006.

CTC was also chosen to participate in an Air Force pilot program, called GenEd Mobile (GEM). Through GEM, airmen may take their five general education courses required for a Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) degree in a single block of courses through CTC. Courses are offered via distance education, providing anytime, anywhere availability. Participating students must take one three-credit class in each of the five general education categories: oral communication, written communication, math, social sciences and humanities.

CTC is a member of the Service members Opportunities Colleges (SOC), which guarantees those in the military who complete at least 25 percent of their course-work in residence at CTC, can continue to work on their degrees at other institutions of higher learning and receive a degree from CTC when all credit requirements have been satisfied. CTC remains the top institution in the world in SOC agreements.

G.I. Jobs (www.gijobs.com) is published by Victory Media, a veteran-owned business headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa. The company also publishes The Guide to Military Friendly Schools, Military Spouse and Vetrepreneur magazines and annually rates the nation’s “Military Friendly Employers,” “Military Spouse Friendly Employers” and “Best Corporations for Veteran- Owned Businesses.” G.I. Jobs magazine shows people affiliated with the military how to continue their education and transition into the civilian work force. According to the magazine, military-friendly schools are ones with a strong interest in recruiting and retaining military students.